Rutgers' season ends with NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa

Jason O. Watson/US PresswireIowa Hawkeyes center Morgan Johnson (12) and forward Gabby Machado (50) celebrate after their 70-63 victory over Rutgers Saturday.STANFORD, Calif. – Brittany Ray had never lost in an opening-round game of the NCAA tournament. In her four years at Rutgers, the Sweet 16 had been automatic and the national finals had once been reality.

And even though in this bumpy season there were times when she didn’t know if her team would make it to the NCAA tournament, once it was in, she couldn’t picture her career ending in the opening round.

“You want to go out differently,” Ray said. “You want to advance as far as you can in the NCAA. But, unfortunately, we lost our first game.”

Eighth-seeded Iowa put the period on Rutgers’ season Saturday night, defeating the ninth-seeded Scarlet Knights, 70-63, in Stanford’s Maples Pavilion. For the first time since 2004, the Scarlet Knights did not advance past the first round.

The players said they were “outhustled” on the boards. They were “safe” in Stringer’s trademark “55,” the antithesis of how it’s designed. While Iowa hit threes, the Scarlet Knights couldn’t keep up the pace with two-point baskets. Ray led the team with 15 points, and sophomore post Chelsey Lee added 14.

Their season had exhaustion, frustration, vacillation – and, after Saturday’s loss, regrets.

“We waited too late to find our identity,” Lee said, “and just know what type of team we are.”

Rutgers had only led once in the first half, when the score was 4-2. By halftime, the Hawkeyes had built a 28-21 advantage. But when the teams came back out from the locker room, the second half quickly became an upbeat, physical race for a spot in the next round.

After a 7-0 run early in the half, the Scarlet Knights surged ahead of Iowa at the 14:18 mark – their first lead in more than 21 minutes – on a two-point lay-up from Lee. They extended their advantage to 44-39 with 12:37 to play. But when Iowa countered with a pair of treys from junior guard Kachine Alexander, the duel was on.

The teams traded baskets like a tennis ball, and with 4:12 left in the game, the score was tied at 56. That’s when Iowa began to take custody of the game. Back-to-back three-point plays by guard Kamille Wahlin started a 7-0 Hawkeyes run.

Rutgers was within four with 1:29 to play, after a three-point basket from Ray, but that was the last time they would score until a buzzer-beating lay-up by Khadijah Rushdan. Meanwhile, Iowa capitalized on their chances at the free-throw line, sinking five.

“They wore us out,” Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. “We were a step slow. They just got it done, they stayed to the game plan, and that’s as simple as that.”

Indeed, Iowa made the most of its strengths. After a cold first half beyond the arc, the excellent outside-shooting Hawkeyes made 8-of-12 three-point shots in the second half. The nation’s seventh-best free-throw shooting team was also 22-for-28 from the charity stripe.

Rutgers didn’t harass Iowa with the press as it hoped it could, slowed by miscommunication and not converting points when it did get steals. The Scarlet Knights were also out-rebounded, 39-29.

“It wasn’t a post player, it was their guards,” Lee said. “It was the guards that hit the boards. That was just an eye opener like, ‘Really?’ ”

Stringer praised Iowa, saying the team showed why it should have been a higher seed. Rutgers, meanwhile, will head home dissatisfied.

“Unfortunately, we as a team were not strong enough this year to sustain the real kind of pressure and expectations that were upon us,” Stringer said. “So we struggled quite a bit.”Jenny Vrentas may be reached at jvrentas@starledger.com.